Written by Matteo Ciaramella
“Roma have risen from their ruins… Manolas the Greek God in Rome. The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes. This was not meant to happen. This could not happen. This is happening. Barcelona, extraordinarily, eight minutes from elimination, and Di Francesco does not know where to go. Iniesta does not know where to look. It is a Greek from Mount Olympus who has come to the seven hills of Rome and pulled off a miracle.”
Peter Drury. April 4th, 2018.
A piece of poetry disguised as football commentary. A true work of art.
As much as I would love for this article to pay homage to these iconic words, that is not why we are here today.
Today, we go back in time to that magical night. A night that Roma and all Italian football fans alike will never forget.
The 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League quarter finals between Barcelona and Roma was a tough match-up to predict. Roma was obviously the underdog on paper, though the Giallorossi were nevertheless a force to be reckoned with, coming close to a Serie A title the year prior. Barcelona was still an elite team on the European stage, even after Neymar’s departure, as they went on to win both LaLiga and the Copa del Rey at the end of this season.
However, many people forget how good this Roma team was. Although Edin Dzeko had average numbers domestically that season, he was an absolute goal-scoring machine in the Champions League. Then there was Alisson in his explosive breakout campaign, prime Radja Nainggolan as one of the deadliest and most versatile box-to-box midfielders around, as well as a reborn Aleksandr Kolarov in incredible form. This team had what it took to give anyone a tough time.
But Barcelona is and always will be Barcelona.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, and Sergio Busquets are just some of the world class names that this team could boast. Defensive and offensive prowess, tactical masterclass, mesmerizing football – this team had it all. Very few could match this squad.
Even fewer were those who could beat them.
And although Roma was indeed a respectable opponent, no one expected them to overcome one of the giants of the competition.
This notion was only intensified after the first leg. A crushing 4-1 defeat at the Camp Nou, accentuated by two own goals, sank Roma’s already frail hopes of progressing to the semi-finals.
A 3 goal deficit against an untouchable team of football’s elite is quite literally, an insurmountable obstacle.
But April 10th, 2018 proved otherwise.
As the two teams made their way onto the field, there was an inexplicably hopeful atmosphere at the Satdio Olimpico. Roma fans were cheering for their team like never before.
They believed, when no one else did.
And at the 6th minute the Giallorossi support started paying off.
Whether it was inspiration from the fans, or pure genius from Daniele de Rossi, we’ll never know. What we do know is that the Roma captain launched an exquisite ball from his half into the Catalan final third, looking for the fierceless Dzeko who fought his way through Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti, scoring the first goal of the game.
1-0.
But Roma was just getting started. They started bombarding the Catalan defense with goal-scoring chances left and right. And yet, somehow, the ball could not find the back of the net. A wide header from Schick had the entire stadium in awe for a second, and a miraculous save from Ter Stegen on a Dzeko attempt lead to the first half ending with the same scoreline: 1-0 for Roma.
At this point all the hope restored after Dzeko’s goal was again, starting to vanish. Believing that Roma could score 2 goals and keep Barcelona from scoring at least one, would have been quite frankly, delusional.
Regardless, the Roma players came back onto the field ready to give everything and fight until the last seconds.
56th minute. Dzeko makes himself a threat once again, and enters the Barcelona penalty box.
A foul from Gerard Pique awaits.
Penalty.
The crowd goes wild. If Roma score this penalty, they only need one more goal to qualify for the semi-finals.
The dream that once seemed so far, was now within Roma’s reach, provided that their captain kept his cool and scored.
“Parte con il destroooo! 2 A 0 ROMA, 2 A 0 ROMA!”
These were Fabio Caressa’s words as De Rossi’s penalty sunk into Ter Stegen’s net, and the city of Rome erupted into one, big, euphoric scream. The semi-finals were now closer than ever.
A show of strength and drive took Roma within one goal of completing nothing short of a miracle. This game was, by this point, already a commendable performance, capable of making any Italian proud.
But the Roma players were still hungry. The fans wanted more.
We wanted to see the third goal. We craved that goal.
Luckily, we got what we desired.
At the 82nd minute, Cengiz Under probably didn’t know that he was about to become part of Roman history as he made his way towards the corner flag. And he probably didn’t know that he was going to become the architect of one of the most iconic moments of 2010s Italian football. His subsequent corner kick would in fact meet Kostas Manolas’ head, who comfortably placed the ball to Ter Stegen’s right, into the back of the net.
The Greek defender exploded in uncontrollable joy. It was clear that he could not contain his emotions.
After all, can you blame him? His goal had just completed an unthinkable comeback, as Roma rose from their ruins.
References
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/2021705–roma-vs-barcelona/